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Plea in HC for candidates' coloured photo on EVM

NEW DELHI

20 Mar 2017

A PIL was today moved in the Delhi High Court for printing coloured photographs of candidates on ballot papers and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) instead of black and white ones being affixed now. The petition seeking direction to Election Commission of India (ECI) and Delhi state election commission for inclusion of coloured photos in the upcoming MCD polls was filed before a bench headed by Chief Justice G Rohini. The court has put up the public interest litigation (PIL) for hearing on March 24. The petition by two undergraduate students -- Anil Kumar and Pratap Chandra -- said that the Election Commission had issued direction in March 2015 that in elections held after May 2015, in addition to the election symbols of the party candidates, their photographs shall also be fixed on the ballot papers and on the EVM. It had directed that the candidates shall present their latest coloured or of black and white (B&W) photo within three months of nomination, but in all subsequent elections, only B&W photographs were fixed on ballot papers. "When ECI has sought coloured as well as B&W photos from the candidates, there should be no reason for affixing B&W photos of the candidates," the plea said. The pettioner in their plea filed through advocate Biraja Mahapatra, said that the coloured photographs is an additional measures for removing confusion from the minds of voters at the time of voting.(PTI)